Mixing
What makes a syllable “heavy†or “light�
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
The rules for positioning of syllable stress in Latin are relatively simple; they are as follows:
In two-syllable words, the stress always falls on the first syllable.
In three or more syllable words, the stress falls like so:
a. If the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable is heavy, the stress is placed on it.
b. If the penultimate syllable is light, the stress is placed on the antepenultimate (third-to-last) syllable.
This alone is all well and good, there are only three-ish rules to memorize, and the irregular couple-syllable words that are exceptions to this rule are easy to learn and recognize. However, what always trips me up is the use of the terms "heavy" and "light" (or other related terms) to describe which syllables are stressed.
For the duration of my Latin learning experience, I have simply assumed that syllables containing long vowels were heavy and that syllables containing short vowels were light, or simply just making a qualitative judgment to determine whether the penultimate or antepenultimate syllables "felt" heavy or light. Neither of these methods has ever felt sound to me and I am almost 100% certain that I am not distinguishing heavy and light syllables correctly. Thus, my question:
What are the differences between heavy and light syllables and how does one go about identifying them?
pronunciation vowel-quantity consonants vowel
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
The rules for positioning of syllable stress in Latin are relatively simple; they are as follows:
In two-syllable words, the stress always falls on the first syllable.
In three or more syllable words, the stress falls like so:
a. If the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable is heavy, the stress is placed on it.
b. If the penultimate syllable is light, the stress is placed on the antepenultimate (third-to-last) syllable.
This alone is all well and good, there are only three-ish rules to memorize, and the irregular couple-syllable words that are exceptions to this rule are easy to learn and recognize. However, what always trips me up is the use of the terms "heavy" and "light" (or other related terms) to describe which syllables are stressed.
For the duration of my Latin learning experience, I have simply assumed that syllables containing long vowels were heavy and that syllables containing short vowels were light, or simply just making a qualitative judgment to determine whether the penultimate or antepenultimate syllables "felt" heavy or light. Neither of these methods has ever felt sound to me and I am almost 100% certain that I am not distinguishing heavy and light syllables correctly. Thus, my question:
What are the differences between heavy and light syllables and how does one go about identifying them?
pronunciation vowel-quantity consonants vowel
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
up vote
3
down vote
favorite
The rules for positioning of syllable stress in Latin are relatively simple; they are as follows:
In two-syllable words, the stress always falls on the first syllable.
In three or more syllable words, the stress falls like so:
a. If the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable is heavy, the stress is placed on it.
b. If the penultimate syllable is light, the stress is placed on the antepenultimate (third-to-last) syllable.
This alone is all well and good, there are only three-ish rules to memorize, and the irregular couple-syllable words that are exceptions to this rule are easy to learn and recognize. However, what always trips me up is the use of the terms "heavy" and "light" (or other related terms) to describe which syllables are stressed.
For the duration of my Latin learning experience, I have simply assumed that syllables containing long vowels were heavy and that syllables containing short vowels were light, or simply just making a qualitative judgment to determine whether the penultimate or antepenultimate syllables "felt" heavy or light. Neither of these methods has ever felt sound to me and I am almost 100% certain that I am not distinguishing heavy and light syllables correctly. Thus, my question:
What are the differences between heavy and light syllables and how does one go about identifying them?
pronunciation vowel-quantity consonants vowel
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
The rules for positioning of syllable stress in Latin are relatively simple; they are as follows:
In two-syllable words, the stress always falls on the first syllable.
In three or more syllable words, the stress falls like so:
a. If the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable is heavy, the stress is placed on it.
b. If the penultimate syllable is light, the stress is placed on the antepenultimate (third-to-last) syllable.
This alone is all well and good, there are only three-ish rules to memorize, and the irregular couple-syllable words that are exceptions to this rule are easy to learn and recognize. However, what always trips me up is the use of the terms "heavy" and "light" (or other related terms) to describe which syllables are stressed.
For the duration of my Latin learning experience, I have simply assumed that syllables containing long vowels were heavy and that syllables containing short vowels were light, or simply just making a qualitative judgment to determine whether the penultimate or antepenultimate syllables "felt" heavy or light. Neither of these methods has ever felt sound to me and I am almost 100% certain that I am not distinguishing heavy and light syllables correctly. Thus, my question:
What are the differences between heavy and light syllables and how does one go about identifying them?
pronunciation vowel-quantity consonants vowel
pronunciation vowel-quantity consonants vowel
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
asked 2 hours ago
Ethan Bierlein
1,046118
1,046118
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel, or if it ends in a consonant—-although the consonant rule had some exceptions in old poetry.
Figuring out if a syllable ends in a consonant can be a bit tricky because Latin didn’t always write double consonants (Z and most intervocalic I/J scan as double consonants, despite being written with only single letter) and certain consonant sequences can either occur at the start of a syllable or split between syllables (“mute + liquid†clusters, composed of an obstruent followed by R or L).
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
A syllable is can be heavy in two ways.
It is heavy by nature if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong.
It is heavy by position if the vowel is followed by a "consonant cluster".
If neither happens, the syllable is light.
It can also be heavy for both of the two reasons.
The irregularities have to do with what "consonant cluster" means.
Mostly, it means two or more consonants, and simplifying the rule this way gets most cases right.
The important question is whether the consonant or combination thereof sounds short or long.
Some long-looking combinations of consonants are short and do not count as "consonant clusters" for syllable weight; these are qu and some cases of muta cum liquida.
Sometimes a "consonant cluster" is spelled with a single letter, like the i in maior (pronounced /majjor/, not /major/ or /maajor/) or z.
Perhaps a more accurate term would have been "long consonant sound" rather than "consonant cluster".
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel, or if it ends in a consonant—-although the consonant rule had some exceptions in old poetry.
Figuring out if a syllable ends in a consonant can be a bit tricky because Latin didn’t always write double consonants (Z and most intervocalic I/J scan as double consonants, despite being written with only single letter) and certain consonant sequences can either occur at the start of a syllable or split between syllables (“mute + liquid†clusters, composed of an obstruent followed by R or L).
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel, or if it ends in a consonant—-although the consonant rule had some exceptions in old poetry.
Figuring out if a syllable ends in a consonant can be a bit tricky because Latin didn’t always write double consonants (Z and most intervocalic I/J scan as double consonants, despite being written with only single letter) and certain consonant sequences can either occur at the start of a syllable or split between syllables (“mute + liquid†clusters, composed of an obstruent followed by R or L).
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel, or if it ends in a consonant—-although the consonant rule had some exceptions in old poetry.
Figuring out if a syllable ends in a consonant can be a bit tricky because Latin didn’t always write double consonants (Z and most intervocalic I/J scan as double consonants, despite being written with only single letter) and certain consonant sequences can either occur at the start of a syllable or split between syllables (“mute + liquid†clusters, composed of an obstruent followed by R or L).
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel, or if it ends in a consonant—-although the consonant rule had some exceptions in old poetry.
Figuring out if a syllable ends in a consonant can be a bit tricky because Latin didn’t always write double consonants (Z and most intervocalic I/J scan as double consonants, despite being written with only single letter) and certain consonant sequences can either occur at the start of a syllable or split between syllables (“mute + liquid†clusters, composed of an obstruent followed by R or L).
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
answered 1 hour ago
sumelic
5,84511344
5,84511344
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
A syllable is can be heavy in two ways.
It is heavy by nature if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong.
It is heavy by position if the vowel is followed by a "consonant cluster".
If neither happens, the syllable is light.
It can also be heavy for both of the two reasons.
The irregularities have to do with what "consonant cluster" means.
Mostly, it means two or more consonants, and simplifying the rule this way gets most cases right.
The important question is whether the consonant or combination thereof sounds short or long.
Some long-looking combinations of consonants are short and do not count as "consonant clusters" for syllable weight; these are qu and some cases of muta cum liquida.
Sometimes a "consonant cluster" is spelled with a single letter, like the i in maior (pronounced /majjor/, not /major/ or /maajor/) or z.
Perhaps a more accurate term would have been "long consonant sound" rather than "consonant cluster".
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
A syllable is can be heavy in two ways.
It is heavy by nature if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong.
It is heavy by position if the vowel is followed by a "consonant cluster".
If neither happens, the syllable is light.
It can also be heavy for both of the two reasons.
The irregularities have to do with what "consonant cluster" means.
Mostly, it means two or more consonants, and simplifying the rule this way gets most cases right.
The important question is whether the consonant or combination thereof sounds short or long.
Some long-looking combinations of consonants are short and do not count as "consonant clusters" for syllable weight; these are qu and some cases of muta cum liquida.
Sometimes a "consonant cluster" is spelled with a single letter, like the i in maior (pronounced /majjor/, not /major/ or /maajor/) or z.
Perhaps a more accurate term would have been "long consonant sound" rather than "consonant cluster".
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
A syllable is can be heavy in two ways.
It is heavy by nature if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong.
It is heavy by position if the vowel is followed by a "consonant cluster".
If neither happens, the syllable is light.
It can also be heavy for both of the two reasons.
The irregularities have to do with what "consonant cluster" means.
Mostly, it means two or more consonants, and simplifying the rule this way gets most cases right.
The important question is whether the consonant or combination thereof sounds short or long.
Some long-looking combinations of consonants are short and do not count as "consonant clusters" for syllable weight; these are qu and some cases of muta cum liquida.
Sometimes a "consonant cluster" is spelled with a single letter, like the i in maior (pronounced /majjor/, not /major/ or /maajor/) or z.
Perhaps a more accurate term would have been "long consonant sound" rather than "consonant cluster".
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
A syllable is can be heavy in two ways.
It is heavy by nature if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong.
It is heavy by position if the vowel is followed by a "consonant cluster".
If neither happens, the syllable is light.
It can also be heavy for both of the two reasons.
The irregularities have to do with what "consonant cluster" means.
Mostly, it means two or more consonants, and simplifying the rule this way gets most cases right.
The important question is whether the consonant or combination thereof sounds short or long.
Some long-looking combinations of consonants are short and do not count as "consonant clusters" for syllable weight; these are qu and some cases of muta cum liquida.
Sometimes a "consonant cluster" is spelled with a single letter, like the i in maior (pronounced /majjor/, not /major/ or /maajor/) or z.
Perhaps a more accurate term would have been "long consonant sound" rather than "consonant cluster".
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
answered 9 mins ago
Joonas Ilmavirta♦
42.7k1054246
42.7k1054246
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2flatin.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f7198%2fwhat-makes-a-syllable-heavy-or-light%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
